Always
by fallingaway24
Summary: “Derek am I going to die?” A shock went through Derek’s body as he looked into her eyes. “I said am I going to die?” Derek still didn’t say anything.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: I promised myself I wouldn't write another fanfiction but I couldn't help it, this idea was floating around in my head and I needed to write it out. It's just an idea and personally I don't really like the way it turned out. I thought I'd just post it and hopefully people will tell me whether I should continue or not.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Casey came down the stairs in jeans and a tank with her hair everywhere. She had dark bags under her eyes but she didn't care because she was experiencing a horrifying headache. Casey slowly made her way to the table and sat down for breakfast.

"Good morning honey!" Nora shouted from the kitchen but there was no response from Casey.

Derek looked up from his cereal, "Whoa, Casey!" he yelled between chewing, "having a bad hair day?"

He started to chuckle while milk was dripping down his chin. Derek had replaced Casey's shampoo with honey and usually, Casey would have come downstairs screaming while trying to strangle Derek. Today, she said nothing. Casey was just staring out into space.

"Dude" Edwin whispered in Derek's ear, "is she okay?"

"I have no idea, she should have reacted by now." Derek shrugged at Edwin and Lizzie while picking up his bowl and entering the kitchen.

Casey was still sitting at the table now with her hands around her head, fingers massaging her temples.

"Casey, are you okay?" Lizzie tried asking.

Casey finally spoke, "yeah Liz, I'm fine. I just have a really bad headache. I've had it all night and I couldn't get any sleep." She said in a groggy tone.

"Did you take any pain killers?" Nora asked while walking out of the kitchen and placing pancakes on the table.

"I did but it didn't help at all"

George came in with a crying Marti in his arms. Nora gave him a look that asked 'what's the matter'.

"Marti's just a bit upset that we can't take her to the play center at the mall today. I told Marti we would go next week…right Marti?" George asked the crying girl. Marti just started to cry harder.

"Mom, I can take her if you want." Casey interrupted.

"But Casey, you have a headache, are you sure?"

"It's okay, I'm sure I'll be fine. It's just probably because of all the stress at school and all the exams. I think the pain killers will kick in"

"Thank you Casey" said George, "Derek!"

Derek came in with his hockey equipment.

"Nora is taking the van to drive Lizzie to soccer practice, could you drive Marti and Casey to the mall and pick them up after hockey?" George asked.

"Anything for my Smarti," Derek turned around "Casey, get ready we're leaving in half an hour."

Casey finally got all of the honey out of her hair and was downstairs waiting for Derek with Marti in her arms. She was looking outside through the window when all of a sudden, something caught Casey's eye. A little girl was walking down the sidewalk in a bride's maid dress. She looked beautiful with her hair up in a bun and sparkly make up on her face. She was carrying a basket full of flowers. Casey opened the door, stepped outside and was watching her skip along past the house.

"Okay Case, ready to go?" Derek asked as he came out of the house, locking the door behind him.

"What about you Smarti?" Marti nodded a yes and he grabbed her from Casey's arms. Casey didn't move at all.

"Hey Case? You okay?" Casey still started out into space. Derek tried to find what she was looking at but nothing caught his eye.

Casey turned so she was looking at Derek "look at the little girl over there, isn't she cute!" Casey pointed out to the street.

Derek tried to look at what she was pointing at but he saw nothing.

"Where?"

"Right there" Casey pointed. Derek still saw nothing.

"Hate to break it to you case, but you've finally lost it."

"Why" Casey asked turning to face him.

"Because there's no one there"

Casey turned back to look at the little girl, but she was gone. Derek was tying Marti into her car seat and Casey sat in the passengers seat confused.

"I could have sworn she was there."

"Whatever Case"

Derek started the car and they were on their way to the mall.

Casey glanced at her watch, it was twelve o'clock and she had to meet Derek back in the entrance of the mall at four. She and Marti had lots of time to spend. Casey took Marti's hand and was walking through the mall.

"Hey kiddo, what do you want to do first?"

"Lets go to the play center!!" Marti screamed

"Okay, then after we get ice cream?"

"But Casey, I'm a cat" Marti explained while pointing at the furry ears at the top of her head "and cats don't like ice cream"

"What about Candy? Do cats like candy?"

Marti nodded

"Alright then after we come out of the play center, we'll get candy."

Marti let out a high-pitched 'yay' out into the air as she pulled Casey into the play center.

After about an hour Marti was finished playing and Casey bought her candy. While Marti was finishing off all of her sugary sweets, Casey thought she would look through the boutiques near the food court. She looked in one after another forgetting Marti was with her. While she was moving from one store to the next, Casey and Marti got separated. The weird thing was, Casey didn't notice.

Derek was changing out of his hockey gear when he heard his phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello is this Derek Venturi?"

"yes, who is this?"

"This is security from Oakridge Mall. Your sister Marti Venturi was separated from her sister in the mall, at least, that's what she has told us. When we asked if she knew her home phone number, she gave us yours."

Derek scratched the top of his head. How could Casey loose Marti?

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Will Casey MacDonald please report to the security office at the west end of the mall."

Casey was searching through summer dresses in her favorite store. That announcement had been going on for twenty minutes but Casey didn't seem to hear it.

When Casey was finished looking at the dresses she felt thirsty so she bought herself a fruit smoothie and was sitting at the food court.

An angry Derek walked over to her table holding Marti in his arms. Casey looked up.

"Hey Derek, when did you and Marti get here?"

At that moment, Derek knew there was something definitely wrong with Casey.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! (you all know who you are!) I just thought I would post another chapter before the week of provincials (if you live in Canada you know what I mean) I know I will be too busy to update then.

Disclaimer : once again, I own nothing.

Derek was in his room trying to focus on his comic book. He flipped through the pages looking at the colourful pictures but his mind was somewhere else. His thoughts kept wondering off to what happened earlier that day. What was wrong with Casey? Ever since the MacDonald's moved in, Derek had Casey all figured out. She didn't have a very complex personality. Casey was neat, smart, predictable and Derek always knew what she was thinking or how she would react to everything. Her loosing Marti at the mall today was not like her at all. What about her seeing things? That was totally out of the ordinary. Maybe she had finally fried her brain from all that studying.

"How could you let Marti wonder off?" Derek yelled 

"_Derek I don't know what happened, I…I totally forgot I came to the mall with her…I just forgot, like my mind went blank all of a sudden."_

"_And you didn't hear the announcements either?" Derek asked again _

"_Derek I swear, I didn't hear anything! Maybe it's because of this headache. I haven't been able to think properly lately." _

_Derek parked the car in the driveway and took out his key. When he turned his face towards Casey he noticed she was crying._

"_Just don't tell mom and George" she whispered "or they will never trust me again"_

Derek did as he promised, he didn't tell his dad or Nora.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The next few days were fine in the MacDonald-Venturi household. Derek noticed Casey was back to normal in fact, the whole family was acting like they would on an ordinary Friday night. Marti was crying about something as usual, Lizzie and Edwin were in the games closet discussing data, Casey was at dance and George and Nora were downstairs watching "educational programming" on the television. Derek was in the kitchen finishing off the last batch of Nora's chocolate chip cookies.

"Marti, it's time for you to go to bed, it's getting late"

"But I don't want to!" Marti screamed

"Marti…" George warned

"okay" Both George and Marti walked up the stairs, Marti in front of his dad slouching and pouting as she made her way up. Derek smiled as he dipped his cookie into his glass of milk.

Nora was also laughing at Marti and George. She slowly walked towards Derek holding her mug of tea.

"Hey Der, could you do me a favor?" she asked.

"It depends" Derek replied. Nora gave him a look.

"I mean, sure!" he and Nora both smiled.

"Could you pick up Casey from dance please. She called earlier saying she was going to be late but I didn't think this late. She just called saying she would be finished in half and hour and-"

"Sure" Derek interrupted. He really didn't feel like going but it wasn't like he had a choice anyway.

"Thanks Derek" Nora replied, she then went up the stairs, probably to check on his dad and Marti.

After Derek was finished eating his cookies he made his way over to his recliner to pick up his leather jacket. He figured if he left the house now he would make it to Casey on time. As he was passing by the T.V he noticed Nora forgot to turn it off. It looked like her and his dad were watching a medical program. Fun. Just has he finished putting on his jacket he heard something on TV he wished he didn't.

"_symptoms can differ depending on where in the brain it is located, but headaches, double vision, hallucinations, sudden change in personality, memory loss and loss of balance are the most common symptoms of a brain tumor."_

Derek's eyes shot up from his leather jacket to the TV and he felt sick. His whole body became cold. "Casey..." He whispered.

"_we'll be back after these messages with your questions for Dr. Wilson."_

Derek reached out, turned off the TV. 'Brain tumor?' Derek swallowed a lump in his throat.

'It couldn't be, besides, if something like that was wrong with Casey she would be showing symptoms all the time right?' Derek thought. He thought about it once more reassuring himself 'Casey was just tired, that's all. She's been acting normal for the past few days anyway.'

When he pulled up to where Casey's dance class was being held. She was waiting outside of the building. When Derek spotted her, he had that sick feeling in his stomach again.

As he stopped the car, Casey hopped in.

"Hey" She said.

"Hi" was all he was able to say.

"My mom made you come, right?"

Derek nodded.

"Figures, she hates driving at night, especially on the highway. Well thanks for picking me up."

Derek didn't reply.

"Hey Case, how are you feeling" He finally said breaking the silence as they started to come to the highway.

Casey gave him a confused look.

"Your headache" Derek said in a 'duh' tone.

"fine, actually my head doesn't seem to hurt anymore." Derek sighed in relief

"Why? You never cared about me before. Who are you and what have you done with the real Derek?"

Derek chuckled "fine then, I'll never ask how you're feeling from now on"

Casey slapped him lightly and playfully at on the arm. The sick feeling in Derek's stomach was finally gone.

After that conversation, it was quiet in the car. Casey felt tired so she rested her head on the window looking out onto the road in front of her as Derek drove down the highway. Suddenly something white caught Casey's eye. Ahead in the distance was the little girl in the bride's maid dress skipping in the lane they were driving in.

"Derek!" Casey screamed scaring Derek.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Stop the car!" Casey yelled again as she opened her car door.

"Wait, what?"

"Derek! Stop the car now!"

Derek obeyed Casey's orders and slammed on the breaks because he was afraid if he didn't, she was going to jump out of the moving vehicle.

Derek's car came to a screeching halt and the cars behind were honking and swerving around into the other lane.

Casey ran out to the little girl they almost hit and put her arms around her picking her up into her lap. The little girl was now crying.

"shhhh…don't worry, nothing happened. We are going to take you home I promise."

Cars behind were still honking and people were screaming for Derek to get his car out of the lane. Derek watched as Casey positioned her arms as if she was holding someone and she was talking out loud. Derek didn't see anyone there.

Derek ran out of the car, grabbing Casey by the shoulders.

"What the hell Casey! What are you doing?" He yelled as he shook her.

"Derek, stop yelling you're scaring her!"

"Casey, scaring who? There's nobody here!"

Casey looked down into her arms noticing she was holding nothing but air. She looked up into Derek's eyes with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Answer me Casey!" Derek screamed into her face.

"I…I don't know…she was just in my arms-"

Derek didn't let her finish, he grabbed her arm and dragged her back into the car, putting her into the passengers seat and slamming the door. He jumped into the driver's seat and started the car.

A/N: reviews would be appreciated 


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Wow, seriously you guys rock. All your reviews are awesome, thank you! I said I wasn't going to update for a while but I couldn't sleep last night from the stress of provincial exams so, I wrote this chapter. Hopefully it isn't too confusing. Throughout the chapter it jumps between flashbacks and the present, the words in italics are memories. I've read this chapter so many times I have no idea whether it is good or not or how the story is going. Hopefully you guys will review and let me know.

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A few weeks had gone by since that night and today it was Casey's birthday. She was at Emily's house and the family was throwing her a surprise party. The whole thing was Derek's idea but if anyone told Casey, he would deny it. Derek wanted to give her the greatest birthday party ever, since this birthday could be her last.

"_Derek I just want to go home" Casey sobbed when Derek started to drive off._

"_We're not going home Case, I'm taking you to the hospital."_

_Casey looked at Derek as if he was crazy. "Derek, I'm fine, just take me home."_

"_Casey, you're hallucinating and having problems with your memory! That to me is not the definition of fine."_

Derek hoped Casey didn't suspect anything was wrong, not yet. He wanted to tell her himself when the time was right and then, tell the family. However, Casey did realize Derek was acting nicer then usual. How could she not? He didn't call her any names, or bother her at school. He barely talked to her anymore because he was afraid that if he looked into her eyes, she would realize something was wrong. Or worse, he would start crying in front of her.

_Casey had changed into her hospital gown after six hours of waiting in the emergency room. Derek phoned home and told his dad and Nora not to wait up because Casey was staying at Emily's house and he was staying over at Sam's. He wanted to tell his family the truth but he promised Casey he wouldn't. She said it would worry them for no reason._

"_This is a waste of time Derek, there is nothing wrong with me. Why are you so stubborn?"_

"_Me, Stubborn?" Derek replied "look who's talking. Casey, is there something wrong with checking if you're okay?"_

_Casey frowned "I told you Derek, I'm fine!"_

_A nurse then came in and took Casey into the room where they had the MRI machine set up. He watched her from the control room window. The nurse was laying her down, telling her to stay still. The machine then slowly pulled Casey in until all that was seen was her feet. Soon after, the nurse left Casey's side and came into the control room._

_Fifteen minutes later, Casey was still in the machine and the nurse was staring at the images that appeared on the screen. Derek started to get restless._

"_Is she going to be okay?"_

_The nurse faced Derek, "I can't say anything until the doctor checks the results."_

Derek looked around the crowded living room. The whole school had practically arrived at the MacDonald-Venturi household, and everyone was helping with the decorations and food. Sam and Sheldon were putting up streamers, Kendra and Nancy were putting up balloons and everybody else was laying the food on the table. The decorations were so beautiful, he was sure Casey was going to love them.

Derek walked into the kitchen and was observing Lizzie, Edwin and Marti place the candles on the gigantic cake Nora picked up from the bakery.

"Edwin! Put the candles in nicely!" Lizzie said pushing him away from the cake.

"What's wrong with where I put them."

"You put them on the writing dummy! You're supposed to scatter them around the "happy birthday" sign. Duh!"

Edwin rolled his eyes and caught Marti dipping her finger into the cake.

"Marti!" Edwin and Lizzie yelled in unison.

Derek then felt something on his shoulder. It was Nora's hand.

"Hey Derek" Nora said softly, "thank you so much for planning this for Casey."

Derek forced a smile "No problem"

"We're going to have to think hard for next year in order to top this party."

Derek's smile immediately faded. "Yeah, next year" was the only thing he managed to say as he thought back to last week.

"_Derek Venturi, the doctor would like to speak with you."_

_Derek walked in. His palms were sweaty and he felt like he was going to pass out. As soon as he sat down in the office the doctor started talking.._

"_Mr.Venturi, I have your sister's results." Derek nodded to show he was listening._

"_Usually we would tell the patient first but, I think it would be better for her if you tell her about her condition. When we phoned Ms. MacDonald to tell her to come in, she told us she wouldn't and that we could tell you if we found anything wrong. She was very sure the test results weren't going to show anything out of the ordinary."_

_Derek gripped onto the armrest of the chair he was sitting in. _

"_There is nothing wrong with her right?"_

Derek thoughts were interrupted when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was a text message from Emily, Casey was on her way over. He gave the signal for everyone to hide. Within the next 10 seconds the lights were off.

"_I'm sorry Mr.Venturi, unfortunately we have found a brain tumor in her frontal lobe. It is a Glioblastoma multiforme. This is the most common type of brain tumor and the good thing is it is not malignant, in other words, not cancerous."_

Everyone heard the door unlock and watched as the doorknob turned to the right. The door flew open and Casey entered.

A loud "Surprise!" was heard from the crowd and Casey's eyes went wide in shock. Realizing what was going on, Casey's whole face lit up.

Derek saw the expression on her face and smiled. He wanted to do something nice for Casey to make up for all the times he called her "Klutzilla" or played mean pranks on her. He was smiling because he had accomplished his goal. He wanted to make her happy and she was just that. He regretted all of the times he spent making her life miserable when he could have just gotten to know her better. They could have been close friends.

_Derek shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. His eyes were starting to burn and it was hard for him to keep all of his tears back._

"_She's going to live, isn't she?"_

_The doctor looked up from his desk to answer.._

Casey was hugging everyone one by one, telling them how ecstatic she was that they came. George then stood next to Casey and whispered something in her ear. She spun around to where Derek stood and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks so much for planning this for me Derek. I'll never forget this day."

Derek glared at his dad for telling her.

Nora then entered the scene with a huge birthday cake with seventeen candles on the top. The lights went off and everyone started singing. Casey watched as her cake got closer to her.

"_The only treatment suitable for her situation is surgery but unfortunately the survival rate is less than three percent. Even if the tumor is removed successfully, the survival rate still remains very low."_

_Derek couldn't hold back his tears any longer._

"_What are you saying?"_

_The doctor answered "I'm saying that it would be better if she just enjoyed the time she has left."_

"_And how much time is that?"_

"_It depends, some people live for a month, other's live for a year. We are just going to have to monitor the tumor as time passes."_

Derek was standing beside Casey watching her blow out the candles. She suddenly turned to Derek as the crown applauded.

"Thanks again." She whispered in his ear as she cut the first piece and handed the knife to her mom.

"No problem"

"You know what's funny?" Casey asked as she watched her birthday cake being cut and passed around.

"What?"

"I totally forgot today was my birthday." She laughed.

Derek tried not to let emotion show in his face as his whole body went cold. How was he going to tell her this birthday might be her last? Derek could usually tell how Casey was going to react when he teased her or copied her homework. She was so predictable he knew what her facial expression would look like when he took the remote from her or was being a jerk for no reason. But, Derek had no idea how Casey was going to react when he told her she was…dieing.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Note: All of your reviews put a smile on my face. Thank you.

This chapter was super hard to write so sorry sorry sorry if it sucks. I have been in Derek's place before and it is the hardest situation to be in, but I can't imagine what someone like Casey would be feeling. This is why those feelings were so hard to write.

Anyways, here is chapter 4...

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Casey stood outside on the porch waving at Sheldon as he drove off. He was the last guest to leave and the family had already started vacuuming, washing dishes and putting away left over cake. Derek was taking down all of the decorations in the living room one by one. As he started on the streamers, he noticed the front door was wide open. Derek got off of his chair and walked over to close the door when he noticed Casey sitting on the front steps. He sat himself down beside her.

"Beautiful isn't it?" she said realizing she wasn't alone anymore.

"What's beautiful?" Derek asked softly.

"The night sky. You can see all of the stars tonight."

Derek looked up and realized what she meant. It really was beautiful. He then switched his attention to Casey. He watched her stare up into the sky. She looked so fascinated and the moonlight was shining down on her, giving her face highlights and shadows. She was more stunning then the night sky.

"I guess" Derek replied.

"I knew you were going to say something like that. You never think anything is pretty."

"Believe it or not, I do. I just don't like to say it out loud." He protested looking down at his feet.

"Why?"

"Because I don't like letting my emotions show. Just like how I don't like people showing emotions around me. It's just the way I am I guess."

Casey laughed quietly. "I learn new things about you everyday, Venturi."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked also starting to laugh.

"Well until a few weeks ago, I saw you as an inconsiderate jerk who has no feelings and who's only purpose in life is to make my life a living hell."

Casey noticed the change of expression on Derek's face.

"But spending more time with you has made me learn that under all that popularity and the 'I don't care attitude' you really are a sweet guy Derek."

Casey lightly punched him in the arm and they both started to chuckle. After that she went back to looking up at the stars. As a strong breeze began to blow, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms warming herself up.

"Casey, it's pretty cold out here, why don't we go inside?" Derek suggested.

"You can go in if you want. I come out here a lot. I'm kind of used to it."

Derek looked at her surprised. "Since when?"

"Since I noticed you started reading my diary." She said as she glared at Derek.

" I come outside every time I want to get away from the racket in there" she said pointing her thumb towards the house. "or if I want to relieve stress. Sometimes I just come here to think."

"Think about…." Derek started.

"I think about what I have to do for school, what projects I have to finish. I sit on the steps reflecting on my day and how it went. Sometimes I think about what I'm going to do after graduation or what I am going to become." Casey said as she looked up at the stars again.

Derek swallowed a lump in his throat. He lifted his head so he was looking directly at Casey. His heart was aching. If only he could find someway to make her better. To make her stop feeling pain or cure the symptoms she was showing. He wanted to save her and make sure she experienced her graduation and actually had the chance to become what she wanted to be.

"Derek?" Casey said softly bring Derek out of his thoughts.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I noticed you've been doing that a lot lately. Is there something wrong?"

Derek sprang off of the step. "No, I was just thinking about…how I promised Marti I would play… dress up with her."

Casey looked confused.

"Well" Derek pointed his fingers at the door "I...um gotta go."

Derek sprinted inside the house closing the door behind him. He ran up the stairs almost tripping on one of Marti's toys and dashed past Edwin to his room. He slammed the door and threw himself on his bed, putting his head in his hands.

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Derek was in his room flipping channels on the TV. The whole Casey situation was stressing him out to the point where he couldn't sleep. He spent every night tossing and turning. If he did fall asleep which he occasionally did, he would experience horrible dreams. They were all about Casey crying for help, begging for Derek to save her. No matter how hard Derek tried he couldn't and each dream ended the same. Every time he got to the point of failure he would wake up in a pool of sweat.

At that moment he was so sleepy, he was sure he could get into a deep sleep within ten seconds of closing his eyes. If he wasn't scared of the dreams he was having, he would have taken a nap by now. But, after today he knew he would have a nightmare for sure.

This morning he had spoken with the head doctor at the hospital about Casey's condition.

"_Doctor, isn't there anything we can do. Anything at all?"_

"_I'm afraid not Mr.Venturi. The only thing we could do is surgery but, like I told you, the survival rate is very low. I don't think any surgeon would even do this surgery. It's too risky. I had a meeting with all of the doctors and they all agree with me. "_

But Derek had made up his mind. He was going to contact a surgeon who would find a way to make Casey live. Derek wasn't going to let his dream come true. He spent all afternoon photocopying her MRI results and sending them out to all of the best surgeons in Toronto. If the head doctor wasn't going to do it, he was going to do it himself.

Derek then remembered to take out Casey's prescriptions, which he had picked up today. Searching through his backpack, he pulled out a plastic bag that was stuffed with bottles.

Derek needed to hide them for the time being so he decided to keep them in the glass box that held all of his keepsakes. It was special to him, nobody knew it existed and it was the safest place in his room. Derek bent down and reached under his bed. He moved his hand around until he felt the box and pulled it out. He placed it on his desk and began filling it with Casey's prescriptions when someone opened his door.

Derek panicked and grabbed some clothes that lay next to him and quickly covered the box.

Marti bounced into the room.

"Smerek, can you help me?" she asked.

Derek was relieved it wasn't Casey "Yeah Smarti, what did you want?"

"I wanted to put together my puzzle but it's all the way up on the top of the game's closet Could you get it for me. Please?" Marti pleaded.

"Sure. Isn't Ed or Liz around to help you?"

"They went out with Nora and dad."

Derek stepped out with Marti in his arms and made his way over to the closet. On his way, he passed by Casey who was carrying a laundry basket against her hip.

"Casey!" Marti screamed "Don't forget to wash my purple shirt!"

"I won't!" Casey yelled back.

Derek opened the door of the games closet and reached for the puzzle. Bringing it down to Marti he messed up her hair with his free hand.

"Thanks Smerek!"

"No problem Smarti."

Derek sent Marti downstairs and was on his way to his room when he heard a huge crash.

When he made it to his doorframe he saw Casey holding his laundry staring at what had crashed on the ground. The flooring was covered with broken glass and bottles, the bottles that held Casey's prescriptions.

"Casey, what are you doing?"

Casey bent down and moved the glass picking up one of the prescriptions. "I was picking up laundry and…Derek? What are all these." She said as she examined each bottle.

"Why do all of these bottles have my name on them?"

Derek just looked down. He opened his mouth but no words came out. What was he going to say?

"Derek, talked to me!" Casey yelled. He could see tears filling up her eyes. It seemed like she was petrified thinking about what Derek had to say next.

"The tests. This has something to do with the tests at the hospital doesn't it?" she asked.

Derek came closer. His face was red and he knew he was crying. Derek wanted to run away but he couldn't. He had to tell her the truth.

"Casey, it's…they…" He rubbed his eyes and breathed in and out. "When the doctors were looking at your test results, they found…"

"They found what?" Casey demanded standing up.

"a tumor." Derek said with a frightened look.

Casey's cheeks became pale. She dropped the bottle that was in her hand and fell back onto her knees. Putting her hands on her head, Caesy shut her eyes. She shook her head from side to side.

"No! No, no, no." She started to mumble.

"These hallucinations, the memory loss and everything else you have been going through are because of this."

Derek came close enough to where she was and bent down to her level placing a hand on her shoulder while wiping the warm tears off of his face with the other.

"You…have a brain tumor." He repeated in a trembling voice. "Case, I'm so sorry."

Casey pushed Derek away from her removing his arm from her shoulder.

"But, I've been researching and talking to doctors." He continued, "I've mailed out your results. I'm going to try everything I can do to help you, I"-

"Derek am I going to die?"

A shock went through Derek's body as he looked into her eyes.

"I said am I going to die?"

Derek still didn't say anything. He just tried to hug her but, Casey pushed him away.

"Why were you keeping this from me?"

Derek stood up still not answering.

She glanced up at Derek with her red teary eyes. Casey stepped to stand up but collapsed instead.

Derek caught her by her arms and held her up "Casey?"

"Don't touch me" she shouted. Casey quickly regained her balance she started to run out of the room sobbing.

Derek followed her out but she had already slammed the door to her room. He began to knock and pull on the doorknob. The door was locked.

"Casey? Casey please! Open the door!"

"I want to be alone." She screamed through her tears. Casey leaned her back on the door she had just slammed shut and slid down until her body reached the floor. She put her head on her knees and continued to cry. Harder then she ever cried before.

On the other side Derek punched the wall in anger and collapsed onto the carpet with tears rapidly flowing down his face.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you, to my reviewers. I guess this is another depressing chapter but, the next one won't be that depressing I promise. Unfortunately, I don't know when my next update will be. My parents are sending me away to the island of Cyprus to spend the summer with my grandparents who I've never met before. I doubt that they have a computer so I think this might be my last update for the summer. When I get to a computer, I promise to catch up and review to all of your fantastic stories…so keep writing.

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Casey was on the carpet of her bedroom floor, her limbs spread out across the ground. She didn't move since last night and she didn't get any sleep either. All she did was cry. Her insides felt like they were torn apart and she was scared, actually terrified. What was going to happen to her? Was she going to find a doctor who would do her surgery? If so, was she going to live? Casey had all of these questions in her head but there were no answers. She would just have to live her life and wait. That part scared her the most.

The biggest question Casey had was why? Why her? All of her life she believed in karma and the famous saying "what goes around comes around." If this was true, what did she do to deserve this?

Out of all of the horrible thoughts that hunted her, the worst ones were the ones that reminded her of everything she was going to miss. Casey was never going to get a chance to fall in love or get married. She was never going to have kids or become what she wanted to be. She wasn't going to be around to watch Edwin, Lizzie and Marti grow up or even be around to give them advice or be there for support. She was just going to fade away from everyone's life.

Casey felt like the walls of her room were closing in on her. She couldn't stand it anymore, she needed to get out and get some air. Glancing at her clock radio, she knew she had hours of time before she needed to be back. It was still early and the sun was just rising.

After changing and tying her hair into a quick bun, Casey put on her jacket and opened the door, hoping it wouldn't creek. Thankfully it didn't. Tiptoeing down the stairs she made it to the back door and shut it softly on her way out. Stuffing her hands into the huge pockets of her winter coat, Casey walked past the house and continued to pace down the street.

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The sky looked beautiful during the sunrise. The colours of orange and pink blended through the sky. From where she was laying, the sky could be seen perfectly. Casey was on the ground, spreading her arms through the grass that grew on an empty rectangular spot in the cemetery. She was looking up into the sky imagining what it would be like to spend the day here.

"I guess this is how it's going to feel." Casey mumbled out loud not noticing someone was approaching her.

"Excuse me miss, are you alright?" Casey jumped up quickly and looked around to find an old Scottish man standing to her right. He looked like he might have been one of the gardeners that kept the area clean because he was wearing gardening gloves.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Casey answered, "I just felt overwhelmed all of a sudden and decided to lay down."

"Oh," the old man said, "It's just when I saw you on the ground like that, I wanted to see if you were okay. Were you looking for someone?"

Casey looked down focusing on the grass.

"I was looking for Casey MacDonald."

The man put a finger on his chin and looked up as if he was thinking. Casey knew what his answer would be because what the man didn't know was that she was talking about herself.

"I'm sorry young lady, I don't recall seeing a Casey MacDonald. You could go inside over there" the man pointed "and ask."

Casey wiped her newly formed teardrops away with her fingers. "No that's fine, thank you."

"Has it been a long time since she died."

Casey brought her eyes to the eyes of the old man.

"No it hasn't"

"I supposed so." The man said.

"What does that mean?" Casey asked.

"Well, I see people like you come everyday." The man started. "People watch as their loved ones get buried and then they come and visit often. Some people bring flowers and stay for a short time while others stay for hours. I've even seen people stay overnight sitting where their loved ones lie. But as time passes, their visits become less frequent until they eventually stop coming. Therefore when I saw you so early in the morning, I thought it was to visit someone who has recently passed way."

Casey felt her eyes start to burn again and she felt like she was going to throw up.

"Well, it was nice talking to you." She said her voice almost a whisper. "I better get home before my family starts to worry."

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It was breakfast time at the MacDonald-Venturi household.

"Casey has been acting rather funny for the past few days and she hasn't even come down yet. It's not like her to not come down for breakfast." Nora said across the table to her husband. "Maybe I should check up on her."

"Yeah!" Edwin agreed, "What is up with her?" he asked as chucks of what he was chewing landed on the table.

"Edwin gross!" Lizzie shrieked, "Don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Edwin, don't talk with you mouth full." He mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

"Be nice to your sister!" George told Edwin making both tweens go back to eating their breakfast.

"Nora honey, don't worry. Casey is probably tired and stressed like she said. I'm sure she'll come down soon."

"I hope so" Nora answered but before she could say more, Edwin yelled across the room to Derek who was stomping down the stairs.

"Dude. What happened to you?"

Everyone turned their attention to Derek and their eyes went wide in shock. Derek looked awful. His hair was messy, his shirt wasn't buttoned properly and his eyes were bloodshot red.

"Derek? Are you feeling alright?" Nora asked.

Derek didn't answer. He just grabbed his keys and sports equipment.

"I'm going to hockey practice" was the only thing he said before slamming the front door.

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Derek couldn't concentrate on hockey. For that reason the coach told him to go home and get some rest. As he was driving down the highway, Derek's cell rang. Looking at the number, he realized it was one of the doctors he had sent Casey's MRI results to.

"Please" Derek said out loud, "let this be good news."

He took in a deep breath and answered.

"Hello? Yes, this is Derek Venturi."

Unfortunately, this phone call wasn't the news he was hoping for. It was another doctor telling him what every other doctor had said.

"I understand. Thank you." Derek said before shutting the phone. He was sick of people telling him there was nothing more to do.

Derek swerved off of the road and the car came to a sudden stop. His hands squeezed into fists and he repeatedly hit the steering wheel. He then opened his door and climbed out of the vehicle.

"She's dieing!" He angrily screamed at the other cars. His face was red and he started panting.

"She's dieing and there isn't anything I can do about it!" He blared out onto the moving cars. "Isn't there anyone who can help me?"

Derek then stumbled to the front of the car and fell back onto it. Putting one hand on his knee and the other over his face, he continued to let out his frustration.

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Casey was sitting in her computer chair when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." she announced.

Derek opened the door a small bit and looked inside. Casey seemed to be calmer then yesterday. Opening the door all the way, Derek walked over to Casey's bed and sat down. His hands held a plastic bag.

"Are these the prescriptions I found in your room?" Casey asked.

Derek nodded and stuck his hand inside trying to pull all of the bottles out. His hands were trembling and Casey noticed. She placed her hand on top of his.

"Okay, We are going to talk about this." She said softly. "I'm going to tell you what we are going to do. Nobody is going to know about my condition and we are going to act as if nothing is wrong."

"Okay Casey" Derek agreed.

"And Derek," she started again, "Only say okay when you really do agree with me. When I look at you I don't want to see my stepbrother feeling bad for me, agreeing to everything I say. I want to see you being, Derek."

Derek looked up at Casey.

"You can say okay now."

Derek smiled "Okay"

"And if I end up dieing"-

"Casey," Derek interrupted.

"No Derek, listen to me. Even if I am going to die, I won't want to spend my final days thinking about all of this."

Derek then reached out and hugged Casey tightly. It was awkward at first but after awhile, Casey hugged back.

"Now, I want to have some fun." Casey said.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Yay! I finally got to a computer and got a chance to update! Remember when I said this chapter was going to be happy instead of depressing? Well…scratch that! I'm so sorry, I started writing and this is just how it turned out. Please don't hate me!

How has everyone's summer been? It's about 4 in the morning and I am still awake, this is why I can't tell if this chapter is bad or if I'm being hard on myself or if I've just read this chapter too many times. I would love it if you guys told me what you think. I return to Canada on the 19th of August so don't expect another update before then.

Also, this chapter skips back and forth between flashbacks and the present so it might be confusing to read. Just remember, the writing in italics are flashbacks.

Last but not least, thanks again to all of my reviewers!

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"_Now, I want to have some fun." _

That was what Casey had said earlier today.

"She was so positive! Casey was doing fine, she was happy and I left her alone for fifteen minutes and look what happened!" Derek screamed inside the ambulance punching his fist into the side of the vehicle. The doctor had told him that Casey was going to experience mood swings, Derek just didn't think they could be this drastic.

"Mr. Venturi, please stay calm." The nurse informed him, "We will be arriving at the hospital shortly."

A paramedic and the emergency medical technician were working around Casey saying something Derek couldn't quite understand.

"Is she going to be okay?" Derek asked wiping his wet face on the sleeve of his leather jacket.

Nobody answered.

"I said, is she going to be okay?" Derek demanded.

The paramedic then turned around. "We cannot be sure until we get to the hospital. Try and stay calm."

'Stay calm?' Derek thought. How was he going to stay calm? This was his fault. Why did he leave Casey alone? Derek still couldn't compute how all this happened so fast. Just a few hours ago, he and Casey were getting soaked in a water fight at home.

_Derek took water fights way too seriously. He had a red bandana tied around his head and green makeup smudged down his cheeks, army style. Holding his 17 inch flash flood water gun, he counted down loudly into the air "3…2…1…Casey you're going down!"_

_Derek jumped down the front steps and sprinted to the side of the house moving cautiously, making sure Casey wasn't sneaking up from behind. He circled the house 5 times but Casey was nowhere to be seen. This was making him worry. What if she was experiencing memory loss and forgot that they were going to have a water fight?_

_Derek thought about this as he opened the gate to return to the backyard when he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. Derek let go of the gate and smirked. _

'_Ha, Casey is so going down!" he thought. Moving very slowly, Derek took big steps towards the bush. Positioning his gun, he started to violently spray through the leaves and didn't stop until his gun was totally empty, making sure whoever was in there was drenched._

"_Gotcha Case! And you thought you could beat THE Derek Venturi, in your dreams!" _

_The bush then shook some more and someone came out wiping the smirk off of Derek's face. To his surprise, it wasn't Casey it was a very wet Marti._

_Marti giggled, "No Derek, I think we got you!" she pointed behind him and Derek turned around. There was Casey standing with one of Edwin's huge water guns._

"_Prepare to be soaked Venturi!"_

_Casey sprayed Derek right in the face and Marti began splashing Derek from behind. _

_Edwin and Lizzie ran out from the other sides of the house and joined in. Derek didn't try and escape because he knew he couldn't go anywhere. They had surrounded him._

_Casey, Lizzie, Edwin and Marti sprayed Derek until their water guns needed refilling. When everyone was finished attacking, Derek looked like a dog that was left outside during a storm. His face said revenge._

_Lizzie and Edwin high-fived each other and Marti giggled._

"_That was so awesome!" Edwin yelled, laughing at his older brother._

_Derek wiped off the droplets falling off of his chin and stood there glaring at his siblings. _

"_Oh yeah? It's pay back time!"_

"_Ha, with what?" Casey asked, "Your water gun is out." _

_Bending down, Derek turned the knob on the side of the house to the left, which filled the hose that lay on the ground. Derek quickly grabbed it and faced it towards everyone making the kids gasp._

"_Unfortunately, yours is too." Derek stated._

_Casey, Lizzie, Edwin and Marti backed away when they noticed that Nora left the heavy spray attachment on the top._

"_Derek, you wouldn't!" Casey warned backing up and shaking her head side to side. Marti hid behind her. _

_Derek stepped closer._

"_Uh oh!" Lizzie said as her, Edwin and Marti opened the fence escaping to the back yard. Derek and Casey heard the kids scream as they ran into the house._

"_Derek…" Casey said in a worried tone, backing up until her back hit the door of the fence. Before she could turn around to open it, Derek pressed down on the attachment spraying Casey's face, just like she had done to him earlier. _

"_DER-EK!"_

_Casey let out a piercing scream and ran past Derek to the front yard, waving her hands in front of her face to block the water. Derek took off after her still pressing down on the attachment spraying Casey from head to toe. Casey continued to run but Derek caught up and reached out to grab her. He only managed to grab the back of her t-shirt and pulled as hard as he could making Casey fall backwards. When she tumbled, she brought Derek down with her. The two teenagers made a huge splash sound as they fell onto the now wet, muddy lawn._

_Derek and Casey wrestled for the hose in the mud, still spraying water in each other's faces. Derek finally got the hose out of her grip and tossed it across the grass. Casey reached her arm out to grab it but Derek held both of her wrists tightly and kept her pinned to the ground. They both struggled for ten more seconds before noticing their awkward position on the ground. Suddenly, they both stopped._

_Derek was on top of Casey still holding on to her wrists. He looked into her ocean blue eyes and she looked up at his, both of them were still breathing heavily from the wrestling. Water drops from his hair and off the tip of his nose were falling onto Casey's face, making her blink._

"_Derek…" Casey said quietly._

"_Yeah Case." Derek whispered._

"_Never let your guard down!" She yelled kicking him off of her and pinning him to the grass. While Derek struggled under her, Casey took a hand full of mud from the ground and smudged it all over Derek's face. _

_Derek returned the gesture and soon, mud was flying everywhere and both teens were laughing. Casey wished to have fun that day and she really did. Her face was bright and radiant again. It was almost like she was back to her usual self._

_Nora and George were looking out from the living room window._

"_You think we should go break up the fight?" George asked wrapping his hands around his wife._

"_Nah, it actually looks like they're having some fun." _

_Both adults then smiled listening to the laughing and screaming that was coming from outside._

The ambulance had stopped and Casey was being pulled out on the stretcher. Her face was pale, almost yellow. Just looking at her made Derek's stomach lurch. Getting out of the ambulance Derek ran after the paramedics and grabbed onto the stretcher.

"Casey, you have to live. You have to pull through and when you wake up, we will find a doctor that will make you better, I promise." Derek said as he brought his face closer to Casey's and stroked her hair softly.

"I'll always be by your side."

Still running with the paramedics Derek was going to enter the hospital but was stopped by nurses at the emergency entrance.

"Sir, you're going to have to wait out here."

Derek pushed the nurse aside, "I need to be with her!"

The nurse blocked him from entering again. "You can wait outside or in the seating room but you cannot go in there. We will let you know how she is doing as soon as possible. Okay?"

Derek nodded slightly to show that he understood and walked over to the emergency room seating area. He felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. Looking at the small mobile screen Derek recognized the number. It was his dad. He had phoned them before he left the house telling them to come to the hospital but he didn't explain why.

Derek shut off his phone without answering and shoved his shaky hands into his pockets. He didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. If he had picked up the phone, he would need to answer all his dad's questions like, "What happened to Casey?" or "Why would she do such a thing?"

Derek couldn't answer those questions while he was still in shock. He couldn't keep himself thinking that Casey was up and well an hour ago.

_Derek was still dirty and was sitting on Casey's bed, waiting for his turn in the bathroom. Even though Casey had just taken a shower and wasn't wearing any makeup, she still looked stunning. This was only one of the many things Derek noticed in the past few days. It seemed like the more time with her, the more things he noticed. All of this made Derek feel a weird feeling. A feeling he couldn't quite put his finger on._

_Right now, he watched her as she sang a tune that sounded very familiar to him. Her blue eyes sparkled as she sang the lyrics._

"_Hey Case,"_

_Casey stopped singing and turned her head towards Derek._

"_Yeah Derek?"_

"_What are you singing?"_

_Casey sat up. "I don't know the name if that's what you were asking, I was just singing the song that's on the radio."_

_Derek's face fell because the radio wasn't on. Right then reality struck him. He had so much fun with Casey today, he almost forgot about her condition. Realizing the change in Derek's expression, Casey spoke._

"_Derek? What's the matter?" she asked._

_Derek was starting to feel uncomfortable but didn't want to show it. He needed to get out of her room fast._

"_Nothing, I was just wondering if you knew the name of the song that's all. Now Case, you need to get some rest okay? Take it easy and relax. I'm going to take a shower because as you can see, I'm still muddy."_

_Casey smiled. "Will you come back?"_

"_I'll be back after my shower" Derek replied_

_Right when Derek was going to shut the door, Casey spoke again._

"_Remember you still owe me another game of speed. Don't think I forgot about it."_

_She gave him a competitive glare and he walked away towards the bathroom._

Derek put his hand on his face and wiped the falling tears away. All of this was so overwhelming; He needed a breath of fresh air because when the rest of the family got here, he would need to explain everything.

Derek sat of the curb of the hospital entrance outside.

"I can't loose Casey, no, no, no!" Derek shouted into the air.

Resting his head on his knees, Derek shed tears as he rocked himself back and forth on the curb.

"Fuck!" He screamed into his knees as his hands were now tugging on his hair. "Why did you do this Casey?"

_Casey waved as Derek left the room. She was alone again. Getting up from her bed, she walked over to the door closing it gently and locking it behind her. She sat in the chair that stood in front of her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror._

_Today was a fantastic day and she didn't want it to end. Derek was so supportive and tried so hard to make her laugh through the whole day, this made her feel guilty. Why should her problem be his problem? _

_Although Casey had a fabulous time, every five minutes she reminded herself about reality. She had too because having a good time would get her hopes up for surviving. She didn't want to do that._

_Casey looked away from the mirror and opened the left vanity drawer. Her hands went in and came out with her prescriptions._

_Before she opened the bag that held her pills, she noticed that the music wasn't playing anymore. Was her clock radio broken?_

_She walked up to her bedside table and looked at the 'on/off' switch on the clock radio. That's when she realized the radio wasn't on; the music was all in her head. _

_After that realization, Casey's mood changed rapidly._

_Tears started to escape her eyes. 'No wonder Derek looked so odd before he left. He felt sorry for me.'_

_She collapsed onto her bed and cried clutching her bed sheets and bringing them closer while she brought her knees up to her chest._

_Casey hated this disease so much. It was making her suffer, making people feel bad for her and it forced her to watch herself hallucinate and slowly loose it. She just wanted to get away from everything. _

_Casey stayed in that position on her bed until she got an idea. She got up, wiped her tears and walked back to her vanity._

_A now depressed, red-eyed Casey sat back down and took a look at her pills._

'_What's the point of taking these when there is no chance of living?' she thought._

_Opening the bag, she took out each bottle, read the label and took the according dosage. The more bottles she took out, the more depressed she got. What kind of a life was she living now with all these pills?_

_Finally, Casey took out the last bottle and read the label._

"_Take two pills every six to eight hours."_

_She wiped her eyes on a tissue and opened the top of the prescription bottle. Taking out two pills, she swallowed them with a sip of water. More tears were flowing down her cheeks now._

_Casey then did something she would regret. She took two more pills out of the bottle and swallowed them. Then she swallowed two more. And then two more, trying to ignore her hysterical tears._

_Casey finally emptied the whole bottle into her hand and stuffed the pills inside of her mouth. She chewed them as she cringed because of the taste. Taking a drink from her water bottle, she sat herself down in front of her bed, crying as quietly as she could so nobody could hear her. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes._

'_Soon it will all be over…" she thought, "all I have to do is wait and then…no more suffering, no more pills" Casey whispered listening to the sounds of the water running in the bathroom._

_Within minutes, Casey became sleepy and incredibly dizzy. By the time she heard the shower stop, her vision was totally blurred and she couldn't stay awake any longer._

_Casey laid herself on the floor and closed her eyes. She was sure her heavy eyelids were never going to open again._

Derek turned on his cell phone again and looked at the time though his wet and swollen eyes. What was taking his parents so long? He had called half an hour ago. His dad and Nora had taken the kids to the fair that was at the edge of town. It must have been further then Derek thought.

Right when Derek was going to shut his phone again, his mobile started to ring.

He looked down at the number expecting his dad to call but to his surprise it wasn't his dad's number.

Derek answered.

Hello?"

"I suppose this is Derek Venturi?" a deep voice said.

"Yes, speaking."

"This is Dr. William Hestrin calling from St. Paul's Hospital. Sorry for calling so late."

Derek's heart skipped a beat.

"I received Casey MacDonald's MRI results today and spent all evening analyzing them…"

When Derek heard Casey's name, he began to feel tears drip down his cheeks again.

Derek wasn't in the mood to listen to a doctor tell him that Casey couldn't be helped. At the moment, he didn't even know if Casey was living.

"If this is another doctor telling me the operation cannot be done, I don't want to hear it." Derek yelled through his sobs.

There was a pause on the phone before the doctor spoke again.

"Miss MacDonald's brain tumor is located in her frontal lobe and removing it would be a very risky procedure. I'm sure many of the doctors you have spoken to have told you this. Although this is true, there is still a small chance that she could survive. I've had patients like this before and I've seen miracles happen. I've had patients who have survived. So, Mr. Venturi, I would need to see Casey again and put her through more detailed MRI machines but, if you two have decided to go through with this operation, I am willing to perform it."

Derek nearly dropped the phone.

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So that's chapter 6 for ya guys, I hope it wasn't too bad…thanks for reading 


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Gaah! Jetlag sucks! I'm up and everyone else in my house is asleep. Because there is absolutely nothing on TV at 3 o'clock am, I decided to write and update.

All of your reviews make me feel wonderful. They also set the bar higher for the chapters that I write. I rewrote this chapter like 7 times and it still doesn't seem right 

Before I continue on with Chapter 7, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed throughout this story…

Candypir, lilacsecrets, Lanakila91, ishaana, sballLuvr5, Ghostwriter, Green-Jelly, ilovederekventuri91, muslim2594, jileyfan, kg1219, queenfrizzy8, funnechick, Summers Rage, Sailor Serenity5, DrkMiko, MayMarie, coolbeanie, witchymuggle81009, JateSkateFate815, Chibi Mistress, Nemo1306, Svgg7thKxy, Eva Angel, iluvhmfanfics, Moonlit-Jeannie, Crimson and Chrome 42, MrsxDougiexpoynter, Alone234, bellaroryrocks, fairiekween13, derekandcasey4ever, HRInuyashafan16, carmabell713, bloodLUSTsakura, BlueJay26, Holy Cross Baby, bzwitme23, xoxoBlackOwl, lovewithFanFic123, ihartspied, Mrs. Williamthebloody, EmOgUrL4eVa, Zuzzeroo, IwasNeverReallyMe, lwdlvr4ever, GreaserFreak13

And to my anon reviewers,

Reader with no account. :D, girl in disguise, Tiffany, Cozmo, LolaxLogan4ever, Amanda, Misery, Ali

You guys all rock! (sorry if I missed anyone)

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Casey was now stuck in a world that only consisted of sound. What was happening to her? Before this, she was seeing wonderful dreams that made her feel peaceful. Now, everything was black and the sounds of her dreams morphed into beeping…like one of a heart monitor.

For some reason, Casey could hear everything that was going on around her but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't respond to any of it. She was struggling to move her limbs and pull her eyelids apart. It was no use; it was like her body was frozen entirely.

Casey then heard a bang that sounded like a door closing followed by Derek's voice and another voice she didn't recognize. Trying to move her mouth, she tried to call out to them but it was impossible to part her lips.

Because Casey's head was throbbing, the voices in the distance weren't clear. Trying to focus on what they were saying, she listened carefully. Unfortunately, she could only make out a few words in their sentences.

"…Mr.Venturi…no longer life threatening…very lucky…"

Casey continued to listen. As Derek began to speak, what they were saying started to become clearer.

"…Thank you doctor…when will she start to wake up?"

"She should be up very soon."

"Can you please…" Casey heard Derek say, "…not say anything to my family outside. I think it would be better if I explained everything."

When Derek finished his sentence, a flood of memories came flowing back into Casey's mind filling the darkness in her head. She saw the incident at the mall, the doctor's appointments, the crying, the water fight and the prescriptions. The last memory to flash before her eyes was the one of what she had done last night. After she remembered falling asleep on her bedroom floor, Casey's eyes suddenly shot open to an atmosphere that was mostly white. Blinking a few times, her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room and her vision became clear. Casey realized she was in the hospital.

She spotted the morphine in her hand and moved her eyes to focus on the window that was on the wall in front of her bed. What surprised her was that her whole family was leaning on the glass watching her blink and wake up.

Casey heard Derek and the doctor stop talking and her stomach churned as they exited the room. They obviously weren't aware that she was awake. As they left, Casey watched her mom, George, Lizzie, Edwin and Marti turn their attention towards Derek. Casey wanted to turn away knowing what he was going to tell her family, but couldn't.

Derek stood outside as the family came closer to him in the hallway. His eyes were focused on the ground and his hands were stuffed in his pockets. Casey saw her mom grab Derek's shoulders and shake him back and forth trying to get him to talk. George then pulled Nora beside him and Derek's lips began to move.

Even though Casey was watching all of this through a window without sound, it was the hardest thing she ever had to see.

As Derek continued to move his lips, Nora collapsed and George caught her before she reached the ground. Edwin put his hand around Lizzie and pulled her into a hug as they both started to cry. Marti was standing in the middle of them looking up at Derek trying to figure out what was going on. Casey didn't see anymore because her own tears were blurring her vision.

Casey brought her weak hands up and wiped the warm teardrops off her face. She couldn't watch anymore of this. She desperately wanted to get to sleep and go back to the dream she was seeing before she woke up to this mess. Maybe this would help her forget about reality.

_The dimly lit gymnasium was crowded with people Casey didn't recognize. People were dancing and the weird thing was, she couldn't really see their faces clearly. Sitting at a flimsy round decorated table, Casey sat slouched over with her fist holding her head up while Emily blabbed on about something._

"_Casey, I mean is there anything wrong with me? Why hasn't any guy asked me to dance yet? I'm not ugly, at least, I don't think I am. So what's the problem?"_

_Casey rolled her eyes and before she could say something to make her friend feel better, Sheldon appeared at the table._

"_Hey Casey…Emily" Putting his hands on the edge of the table he leaned closer to Emily._

"_Em…I was thinking, you wanna maybe…dance?"_

_Emily squealed making Casey smile and got up from her seat. The two then disappeared into the crowd._

"_This is the worst night ever!" Casey grunted as she dug her face into her arms that were folded on the table. Casey didn't even want to come tonight. Emily forced her and she was having a horrible time._

"_If you keep doing that your gonna smudge your makeup you know." A deep voice said._

_Casey looked up._

"_Derek?"_

"_Surprised to see me princess?"_

"_Yeah, actually I am. Shouldn't you be making out with some blonde?"_

_Derek's expression changed making Casey feel bad. Before she could take back what she said, he spoke again._

"_That's what I would usually be doing but, I had someone else on my mind."_

_Casey's stomach dropped. What did he mean by someone else?_

"_Well anyway," Derek continued as he scratched his head "I saw you here alone and wanted to ask…um, if you wanted to dance."_

_Casey just gave him a confused stare. _

"_You know, with me?" Derek said nervously. _

_Before Casey said anything, Derek grabbed her hand and dragged her through hundreds of people to the middle of the gym. When he stopped, he looked directly into her eyes._

That was all Casey had seen in the hospital. She wondered what would have happened next if she didn't wake up.

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Derek entered the room and sat down in the chair beside her bed. He noticed Casey had more colour in her face now, her lips and fingertips were no longer blue. Reaching out, he put his fingers on her hair and moved strands away from her face.

Casey opened her eyes.

"Hey" Derek said softly.

Casey didn't say anything; she just began to cry again.

Derek moved his hand from her hair to her cheek. "Don't do this…"

"I…" Casey started.

"You don't have to explain anything."

"For a second, I thought I couldn't handle this anymore… and then…the pills…Derek…I'm so scared…"

Derek rubbed his hand gently up and down her cheek, "Don't be, I'll always be here, right by your side. Just promise me you won't do something like this again."

Casey looked into Derek's dark brown eyes. "I promise."

Silence surrounded the two for a few minutes until Derek spoke again.

"Case, I know you told me not to say anything to the family, but when-"

"Derek, I know…I saw you tell them. It's about time they found out."

Derek was shocked. "You were awake then?"

Casey nodded. There was silence again.

"Case, I was going to wait until later but, I think I'll tell you now. I have some good news for you…"

------------

The next day, George came to pick Casey up at the hospital. When he showed up he was acting totally different and this was driving Casey insane. He wouldn't start a conversation, make eye contact or even touch her. Although all of this was bothering Casey, she didn't say anything. She just went along with it because she knew he cared a lot about her and this was the cause of his sudden change in actions.

When they got to the house, Casey prayed that everything would be normal, but the same thing was going on with the rest of the family. At dinner there was no talking at all. Lizzie and Edwin wouldn't come near Casey or even sit next to her on the couch thinking they would hurt her if they did. Her own mother wouldn't even come out and say 'hi' like she usually would. She just kept herself busy, always cleaning a corner of the house. Nora didn't say anything since that night at the hospital and it wasn't hard to see that she was in complete denial. If anyone spoke of Casey and her doctor's appointments, Nora would pretend not to hear. Occasionally she would speak but to only say "There is nothing wrong with my daughter."

As if being sick wasn't bad enough, watching all of this made Casey's heart ache. She would give anything just to have her mother say "Good morning" when she came down the stairs or give her a kiss and look at her without tears in her eyes.

Weeks went by since that night at the hospital and school was the only place Casey could escape to. George, Derek, Lizzie and Edwin tried convincing Casey not to go but she wouldn't listen. Nobody there knew anything about what was going on, and Derek would act like his normal self in front of everyone so nobody would suspect anything was different. Casey needed the normalcy that found in the halls of Sir John Sparrow Thompson High to keep herself from going completely crazy.

Unfortunately, Friday was Casey's last day because Saturday was her scheduled surgery. Ever since she left the hospital, Casey went back every day to take more complicated and detailed MRI scans for Dr. Hestrin. She met with the doctor himself and he was confident about the surgery but Casey wasn't. She was completely terrified.

------------

Days passed by quicker then anyone thought they would. Each and every single day that lead Casey closer to the day of the surgery added more pain into the pit of her stomach. Before she knew it, it was Friday, one day before the operation.

Ever since breakfast that morning, Casey spent the day in her room. Derek tried to get her out so they could do something together but couldn't. Now it was after dinner and she was nowhere to be found. Looking for her, Derek ran down the stairs to the family who was sitting in silence in the living room. Nobody felt like talking.

"Has anyone seen Casey?"

None of them answered.

"You know, it's a shame you all are sitting here when you could be spending time with Casey. By acting like this, you're making her feel worse then she's already feeling."

Nora looked up from the forks she was polishing and George put down his newspaper. All the kids now had their attention on their big brother.

"Now, I am going to find Casey and spend every last minute I have with her."

Derek left the room, leaving them with their thoughts.

------------

Casey was outside in the pouring rain. She spun around with her eyes closed and head tilted upward as she felt the raindrops tap on her tanned skin. At the moment, she was thinking about the dream she had when she was in the hospital

Derek opened the front door startling Casey and making her turn to look at him.

"Casey? What are you doing out here? Come inside!"

Casey smiled because she had an idea, "I'm not coming in, your coming out here."

Derek looked confused. "What?"

"Come on Derek!" she said waving her hands in the air.

Derek ran onto the grass and stopped right in front of her.

"What are you doing out here? Okay, better question…why do you want me out here?"

"You'll see" she answered. Casey took out keys that belonged to Nora's car from her front pocket. Opening the driver's door, Casey went in, turned on the radio and made sure it was loud enough to be heard in the yard. When she was done, she ran back to Derek.

"Derek," she started as she reached out her hand, "may I have this dance."

As soon as she said that "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong started on the radio.

Derek looked at her like she was crazy.

"What?" she asked, "I know about your 'no hugging policy', do you have a 'no dancing policy too?"

Derek watched the rain slide off of her hair and down her face. How could he say no to someone who might be living the last night of her life…especially when she was absolutely beautiful.

Derek chuckled, "I do. But, I'll break the policy just this once."

Now it was just like her dream. Derek slowly put his hands on her waist making Casey's stomach tighten and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Both of them began to sway to the music.

**I see trees of green, red roses too**

**I see them bloom for me and you**

**And I think to myself, what a wonderful world **

"What were you doing outside anyway?" Derek whispered into Casey's ear as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I was taking in the smell of the rain and feeling raindrops fall onto my skin. When I was small, I used to always play in the rain with my dad. I just wanted to be out here one last time."

Derek closed his eyes trying desperately to hold his tears back. What if this was the last night of her life?

**I see skies of blue **

**and clouds of white**

**The bright blessed day,**

**the dark sacred night**

**And I think to myself,**

**what a wonderful world**

Noticing that Casey was crying too, Derek brought her closer to him and moved his warm hands up and down her waist slowly.

This gave Casey goosebumps and her skin was tingling underneath Derek's hands. She closed her eyes and tightened the grip on his neck. The rain was really coming down now and both of them were completely soaked.

A million thoughts were going through Derek's head as they moved slowly to the music. He had to tell her how he felt or else he might regret it forever. He had say it now.

**The colours of the rainbow,**

**so pretty in the sky**

**Are also on the faces of people going by**

**I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?" **

**They're really saying "I love you" **

"Case?" Derek said softly.

Casey lifted her head from Derek's wet shoulder and looked up at him though her blurred vision. His cheeks and nose was completely red from the cold. A combination of teardrops and raindrops dripped off his chin as he spoke.

"There's something I need to tell you. Actually it's something that I've wanted to say for a while now. I-"

**I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow **

**They'll learn much more than I'll ever know **

**And I think to myself, what a wonderful world **

Before he could finish, Casey pressed her soft lips onto his.

**Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world**


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Okay, I'm warning you guys, I'm not a doctor so some info in this chapter may be wrong. I'm sorry if it is…

The amount of reviews I got for the last chapter was amazing and I'd like to thank everyone for the feedback: jeytonlover, IWontSayImInLurv, Mrs.Williamthebloody, princetongirl, funnechick, lwdlvr4evr, coolbeanie, candypir, x0-vindicated-0x, derekandcasey4ever, JennaLeigh, KRB, BlueJay26, PropetryOfDracoMalfoy, Ghostwriter, ilovederekventuri91, IwasNeverReallyMe

And my anon reviewer..k

Thank you! Also, I only have one chapter left after this.

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The kiss was short and slow but full of emotion. It said everything that Casey and Derek ever wanted to say to each other.

Casey moved back breaking the kiss and looked up at Derek again. Putting her trembling arms around his wet body she hugged him as tight as she could. This was their goodbye and the very last time they could be alone together. As they both began to cry even harder then before, Derek wrapped his hands around Casey, enveloping her in his arms. He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent, the scent he'd secretly cause physical fights to smell.

Suddenly the two teenagers heard the front door open and slowly broke away from the hug. Standing at the door was the whole family, each of them sorry for the way they had acted. Casey looked at her mothers face and noticed she was crying.

"Casey, I'm so sorry." Nora whispered into the rain. It wasn't loud but Casey had heard it. As she ran through the mud to the door, Nora opened her arms. She then held her daughter in a secure embrace.

After an emotional ten seconds Nora pulled away and looked at Casey. She placed her warm hands around Casey's face, wiped her tears away with her thumb and began to cry hysterically.

Casey took in a deep breath and tried to calm her mom down "Mom, its okay," She told her, but Nora shook her head back and forth.

"No, its not. We should've never acted that way."

As the two hugged again, George, Lizzie and Edwin joined in while Derek came into the house and closed the door. Casey noticed that someone was missing. She looked over everyone and saw Marti standing outside of the big family hug. Letting go of her loved ones, Casey walked over to Marti and picked up the little girl.

"I love you Marti." She whispered into her ear.

"I love you too Casey." She said softly

Marti put her hand into the front pocket of her purple pajamas and took out a bottle the size of a perfume sample.

"Here Casey." She said handing it to her.

"Lizzie said you were sick so I made you a potion. Drink it and you'll get better in no time."

Casey smiled and kissed Marti and the cheek. She then turned around to face everyone and began to speak.

"Sometimes, one doesn't realize how important his or own family is until they loose them. You all are the most important things in my life, and I never doubted that." Casey said, her voice shaking as began to cry again.

Taking in a deep breath she continued, "Maybe, we will never see each other again but-"

"Case" Derek interrupted.

"If we never see each other again…" she said louder "then remember tonight. Remember this moment. I know I will never forget it."

Casey stopped and cleared her voice as she wiped her eyes. "I have one last wish…please, please don't forget me."

------------

The words _"Don't forget me" _was played over in Derek's head as he and the rest of the family stood in the hospital hallway saying one last goodbye to Casey. She stood in front of them, barefoot with her hair out, dressed in a hospital gown.

There were lots of hugs, kisses and many tears that day. It must have been the hardest experience a family could ever go through.

As a nurse approached with a wheelchair, everyone knew it was time for Casey to go.

"Ms.MacDonald, it's time." The nurse said softly and motioned for Casey to get into the wheelchair.

"No," Casey said, her voice rough from crying "I want to walk there myself."

After a short nod from the nurse, Casey looked at her family through her blurry vision. She then turned around and started to walk down the long, bright hallway of the hospital. It wasn't very long to her room but the walk seemed as long as an eternity. As she made it to her destination, she looked back one more time. There was her family, all huddled together watching her. Casey waved as teardrops dripped off of her cheeks and she took one good look at everyone's face as they waved back. She would never forget them.

Casey then entered into the room she noticed it had a hard chair that stood in front of a mirror. When she sat down, the nurse put a cloth around her neck before taking out the electric shaver. Casey knew what was coming next. Turning the device on, the nurse began to use it on her scalp. Casey watched as the stands of her brown silky hair fell onto the ground.

Finally, on a stretcher, Casey was moved into the operating room.

"This is it" she thought.

The doctor put a mask on her face. "Now Casey, we are going to count to ten together." He told her.

Casey began to count imagining her family and friends in her head. As she counted past four, those visions slowly faded into darkness.

------------

Derek was sitting in the hallway head in his hands, waiting. His eyes were a deep red and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Although he was in bad shape, he looked better then Nora did. Her eyes were swollen and were surrounded by dark bags that contrasted with her paler than usual skin. She was sitting right next to him, her arm around Lizzie and Edwin who were sniffling and crying with her. Nora cried through the night and never stopped. He didn't blame her, she was a mother who was losing her daughter. It must be ten times worse for her then it was for the rest of them.

"I never thought I would outlive any of my children…" she mumbled causing a sharp pain to go through Derek's stomach.

"Nora, Casey's going to be just fine and everything is going to go back to normal." Edwin whispered.

Lizzie looked up at her mom, "Edwin's right mom, please stop crying." She said before digging her head back into her mothers shoulder.

Derek got up to get a glass of water. Taking a styrofoam cup, he filled it from the water cooler. As he took a sip, he noticed his father sitting outside with Marti sleeping in his lap. Walking through the clear sliding doors of the hospital, Derek came up from behind George, startling him a bit.

"Hey dad."

"Hey Derek" he replied quietly. "I was just out here getting some fresh air."

Derek sat down beside him on the bench. His dad looked just as bad as Nora did.

"This must be hard for you…"

"It's bringing up a lot of painful memories. Just five years ago we were at the hospital waiting for your mom to come out. They said it was going to be an easy surgery but after she went in, something went wrong and she never came back to us…" said George, his voice becoming shaky.

"I know…"

"I never thought that five years later, I'd be back at the hospital waiting for my daughter to come out of an almost impossible surgery…During the two years I married Nora, I really came to love Casey and Lizzie. I love them as much as I love you, Edwin and Marti." George wiped his eyes on his sleeve before continuing.

"You know Derek, these past few months have really changed you."

Derek looked up at his dad.

"Your personality has changed, you started to show emotion and that you cared for others. I'm really proud of you son, you really went out of your way to help Casey."

Derek was shocked. It wasn't often his dad said he was proud of him.

"Thanks dad."

After a few minutes of silence George spoke again,

"You love her don't you?"

Derek was confused. What did his dad mean? "Of course I do, she's my stepsister."

George shook his head from side to side. "No Derek, I've seen the way you look at her, you really love her don't you son?"

Derek's head shot up. There was no use in denying it.

"Yeah, I do…"

------------

"_DER-EK! You are such a self-centered jerk!"_

Derek lost count of how many times he had made Casey's life miserable in the past. He was the reason why she was unpopular in school. He was also the reason why she didn't have a boyfriend after Sam and Max. He was the reason for her unhappiness and it was all because he cared for her.

Hours had past since Casey went in for surgery and Derek thought about what his dad had said to him outside. He had change a lot in the past few months. What he also realized is that he had never told Casey how sorry he was for making her life a living hell ever since she moved in to the Venturi household. Now it may be too late.

The operating room door then opened interrupting Derek's thoughts.

He looked up to find Dr. Hestrin standing outside the door. Nora jumped up.

"What is it? Is my daughter going to be okay?"

Everyone was now staring at the doctor waiting for him to speak.

"We cannot tell yet. The surgery was successful and it is amazing that Ms. MacDonald has made it this far. But, during the surgery, we had a hard time stopping her bleeding. She didn't loose a whole lot of blood but we have to warn you of everything that can result from this."

Derek put his hands over his face. This can't be happening.

"She could have many problems when she wakes up. She could be paralyzed, she may not be able to move some parts of her body, she might experience memory loss and she may even loose the function of some parts of her brain. There is also a small percentage that she might not even wake up."

Nora gasped and George hugged her from behind for moral support.

"Like I said, some of these effects from the surgery are very rare and have a one or two percent chance of happening…but as a doctor, it is my responsibility to warn you."

------------

"_Comas generally last a few days to a few weeks, rarely more than 2 to 5 weeks. After this time, some patients gradually come out of the coma, some progress to a vegetative state, and others die."_

------------

Derek walked down the hallway to Casey's room with his earphones in his ears. Following the nurse, he walked up to her room. The nurse opened the door.

"**Ever since you have been gone, it's all caffeine-free, faux punk fatigues"**

"Okay Mr.Venturi, I'm letting you in but visiting hours are over in 10 minutes."

Derek nodded to show he understood. As he entered the room, he cringed. Seeing Casey like this always affected him. He would give anything to have her get up and fight him like she used to.

"**Combat baby…come back baby"**

Her head was bandaged down until her lower forehead and an oxygen mask covered the bottom half of her face. The only part of her you could really see was her eyes. Derek sat down on the leather chair beside her.

"Casey, it's Derek." Derek said awkwardly, not knowing where to start.

"The doctors said that if we talk to you, it might help you regain consciousness. I guess it hasn't been working out so well since everybody is always in here saying something. Especially Edwin, Lizzie and Marti. They never seem to stay quiet. Today, I thought I'd give it a try."

"**Fight off the lethargy, don't go quietly"**

Derek put his hand on top of Casey's.

"It's been a week now since the operation and we're all waiting, waiting for you to wake up. We're all getting really worried. The doctor said there's a small chance that you might not be able to, but I don't believe him. If anyone can pull out of this, it's you Casey."

"**said you would never give up easy"**

Squeezing Casey's hand tighter, Derek cleared his throat to continue.

"Casey, you being in here has made me think about all the things I've done, since you, your mom and Lizzie have joined the family…and I'm not going stop feeling guilty unless I…say…sorry."

A smile began to appear on Derek's face.

"If you were awake, you'd probably be laughing at me cause' Derek Venturi never apologizes. But I mean it Casey, I'm sorry for everything. For making you not want to come home, for making you cry in school and for ruining your relationships. For absolutely everything, I'm sorry."

"**Combat baby, come back"**

Derek couldn't hold back his tears any longer.

"Casey, if you don't ever wake up I want you to know that…that I love you."

"**Fight, fight, fight baby"**

Derek crossed his arms and put them on the bed beside Casey. Leaning over he dug his face into his leather jacket and began to cry. What he didn't notice was Casey's eyes fluttering open.

"**How I miss your ranting,**

**Do you miss my all time lows?"**


	9. Chapter 9

Authors Note: Thanks for everyone who has ever read or reviewed to this story. Your reviews are what kept me going after every chapter.

I didn't really know how to end this story… so I hope you guys aren't disappointed with the ending. Also, I wrote this just now so there might be a few grammar errors.

------------

"_**Many people don't know what it's like to come face to face with death. Most can't even imagine the fear of leaving the world with everyone they love behind. I've felt it though, and it's a weird feeling I can't really describe. Even if I could, one wouldn't understand until they felt it themself."**_

_Derek felt something touch his leather jacket as he cried into his arms. Lifting his head, he noticed it was Casey. She moved her right hand and reached out her fingers so she could touch him again. _

"_Casey?"_

_He moved his wide eyes to her face and saw her beautiful blue eyes blink. She was looking back at him as tears escaped her eyes and flowed onto the hospital sheets._

"_Case!" Derek said as he picked up her hand and kissed it. _

"_I knew you wouldn't leave us…" he whispered while tears of joy now came down his face._

"_Wait…" Derek suddenly said putting his hands on his head._

"_Your mom, I have to tell your mom"_

_Derek jumped into the air and started to run the opposite direction into the hall._

"_She's awake!" Derek yelled while dashing out of the hospital. He sprinted past the nurses and doctors until he got to where the family was waiting for him outside. When he finally approached everyone he was out of breath._

_Nora stood up looking worried "Derek? What's wrong?"_

"_Casey…" he managed to say as he grabbed Nora's hand and began pulling her towards the hospital._

"_What? What's wrong with Casey? Oh god, or…or did she…" _

"_No" Derek said as he continued to pull his stepmother, making her run along his side towards the entrance doors._

"_Derek what is this about?" George yelled from where the family was standing._

"_It's Casey dad, she's awake!"_

_Nora stopped and stared at Derek in disbelief. He nodded to show he wasn't kidding and her whole face lit up "She's awake? My baby is awake!"_

_George laughed as Edwin and Lizzie jumped up in happiness._

_Derek now smiled "Come on!" he said as he signaled for them to follow._

_George grabbed Marti and followed the rest of the family into the hospital. As they got there they found her room crowded with hospital workers. Pushing through, they made it to the bed and Casey looked up at them._

"_**I would never wish my experience on anybody but, that time wasn't all bad and it didn't only consist of crying and stress. That experience was also filled with happy moments I will cherish forever. They were moments created with the people I care about the most. The people who care if I live or die."**_

"_Casey!" Nora exclaimed as she bent down and kissed her daughter on the forehead._

"_Me and Liz missed you Case." Edwin said standing at the foot of the bed._

"_Yeah we did sis, it's good to have you back." Lizzie agreed._

_Casey gave a faint smile through her oxygen mask._

_Marti stuck her finger out at her brother as she sat in his arms "See I told you Smerek, my potions do work!"_

_Derek laughed, "They sure do Smarti"_

"_Do you feel alright? Can you move your arms and legs? Do you remember why you're in here honey?" Nora said suddenly remembering all of the health issues that may come up._

"_Mrs.Venturi," The doctor interrupted. "Casey has just woken up and isn't able to do or say much at the moment. As time passes we'll be able to see if anything is wrong with her. But right now, don't worry. Just enjoy the fact that she's awake. I'm going to leave the room now so you can all spend time with her. Just don't stay in here too long because she's still weak and needs her rest."_

_Everybody then looked at Casey. Her eyes were slowly closing again. It looked like she was drifting to sleep._

"_Thank you doctor" George said. He then put his hands on his wife's shoulders "Honey, I think we should let Casey rest. We'll come back and see her tomorrow."_

"_But George! We didn't even get to see her!" Lizzie said from behind._

"_Yeah!" Edwin and Marti agreed._

"_I know kids" Nora said turning around "But the doctors right, Casey does need some rest. We'll come back and see her as soon as you guys wake up tomorrow."_

"_Goodbye Casey" Nora said squeezing her hand. George kissed her on the forehead and followed his wife and children out of the room._

"_**Knowing I was going to die changed my outlook on life. It made me appreciate what I have today. If somebody asked me if I would erase that experience from my life, I'd say I wouldn't because I found something during that time that changed my life forever. I found…the love of my life."**_

_Derek was the last one in the room. He put his hand on her arm and stroked her skin He was so relieved that she had woken up. Glancing back at her face, he realized her eyes were now fully closed._

_Turning around to leave, he couldn't help but wonder… did she hear him?_

_As he started to walk away he heard a muffled noise and stopped. Was he hearing things? _

_He shook his head and continued to walk until he heard it again. This time it was louder. He turned around to find Casey's eyes open again but this time her oxygen mask was off. _

_She opened her mouth and closed her eyes like the movement of her face was causing her pain._

"_Derek" She said slowly in a very rough voice._

_Derek's heart sped up as he walked towards her. He couldn't believe it. She was trying to tell him something._

"_Yeah Case?"_

_Sounds were escaping her mouth but he couldn't really interpret them._

"_Casey, I can't understand you…" He said bringing his face closer so he could hear her better._

"_I…love…you…too." She whispered._

"_**I'm a great believer of the fact that everything happens for a reason…and I truly think that whatever has happened to me happened so I would change as a person and so would the others around me."**_

Derek knocked on the door causing Casey's pencil to stop writing on the piece of paper in front of her.

"Come in" she announced as she gathered all of her work.

"Hey Case," Derek said walking in and plopping himself onto her bed, "Whatcha doing in here?"

"I'm working on my English essay. I basically have to write about an someone or something and how it changed my life."

Derek stood up and hugged her from behind, "Were you writing about me?" he asked as he kissed Casey on the cheek.

"Well no, but you were mentioned…" Casey said smiling. She then turned around to face him.

Derek laughed, "Of course you were writing about me, who could not write about this." He said smirking and pointing at himself.

Casey began to crack up, "Okay, Mr. I love myself…"

"I do love myself but…I love you more" he whispered putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I love you too." Casey said before leaning towards him and kissing him on the lips.

"You know," he started, pushing Casey backwards towards her bed, "Nora sent me up here to call you down for dinner but, I suggest we stay up here and…fool around…"

Casey raised her eyebrow and Derek winked. He still had his hands on her shoulders, pushing her. The backs of Casey's legs were now touching the bed.

Casey wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him passionately. She pulled him towards her and they both fell backwards onto the bed. As they landed both teenagers began to laugh.

"Casey! Derek! Dinner!" Nora called from downstairs.

"I think we should go" Derek said getting up and extending his hand towards Casey.

"Yeah I think so" she laughed and grabbed onto Derek's hand. He pulled her up from her bed and they both walked out of the room hand in hand.

"Hey Derek," Casey suddenly said at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah Case?"

"I know you love me now but will you love me in a few years? I mean what if we're old and-"

"Case," Derek said letting go of her hand and cupping her face.

"I will still love you, no matter how old you get. Even if you end up old, wrinkly and start to smell-"

"Der-ek!" Casey said removing his hands hitting him playfully on the arm.

"I'm just kidding Case," he laughed as he took her hand in his again.

"Never doubt my love for you. I will always love you."

"Always?" Casey asked as they came down the stairs.

Derek looked into her eyes at the bottom of the staircase "Always."

"Kids, your dinner's getting cold!" Nora interrupted.

Both Casey and Derek walked over to the table, sat down in their places and began to eat.

"_**I know my life isn't perfect…"**_

"George can you pass the peas"

"Dad, can you pass the peas?" Edwin asked the exact same time as Lizzie did.

"Sure…" George said handing them over.

Both Edwin and Lizzie grabbed the bowl at the same time.

"Hands off Ed, I asked for them first."

"No I did." Edwin yelled.

"Ed…" George warned, "Why don't you let Lizzie have the peas first."

"Yeah!" Lizzie screamed.

"Lizzie!" Nora said.

Both kids continued to tug on the bowl until Edwin let go. Now Lizzie was wearing peas on her head.

Marti giggled as both parents started to yell at their kids.

"Oh yeah?" Lizzie said as she got a handful of mash potatoes and threw them at Edwin's head. Unfortunately, instead of Edwin, she got Derek right in the face.

"Smerek's covered in mash potatoes!" Marti laughed as she pointed at her big brother.

"Yeah he is" Casey said also laughing.

Derek brought his hands up and wiped the potatoes off of his eyes. "You think this is funny?" he asked picking up the bowl of corn.

"You wouldn't!"

"Derek don't!" George yelled but Derek didn't listen.

Within the next ten seconds food was flying in all directions.

'…_**but, I wouldn't change it for the world."**_


End file.
